The Woodlanders is a novel by Thomas Hardy, published in 1887. The story takes place in a small woodland village called Little Hintock, and concerns the efforts of an honest woodsman, Giles Winterbourne, to marry his childhood sweetheart, Grace Melbury. It is not considered one of Hardy's best novels, yet it is still read with interest and as a comparison with his better respected novels. The Woodlanders marks the beginnings of controversy for Hardy's novels. At this point in his career he was established enough as a writer to take risks, especially in the areas of sex, sexual attraction, marriage, divorce, marital fidelity, unconventional plots and tones, and seemingly immoral conclusions.